Interesting stories, events and random musings from Captain Barry King about windjammer cruises aboard the historic schooner Mary Day of Camden, Maine.

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Monthly Archives: October 2010

Good morning everyone. Jack and Jill went up the… masts?? Thankfully no one came tumbling down. Yes, Jack and Jill Tar, or Rob and Katie as it would be, tarred the rig the other day while Jen and I have been pounding away in the office. If you ever saw my two finger hunt and peck typing you would know why I say “pounding”. Not one of those life skills I ever mastered. Jack tar (and my own variation of Jill) is an obvious reference to the days when copious amount of tar were used to preserve all manner of natural materials including rigging and wood aboard sailing ships. Jack was not necessarily a term of endearment. If you were referred to as John you probably had money that any local barkeep would do their best to pry from you tarry fingers in short order. As the forebitter says ‘”when your money’s gone, its the same old song, get up Jack, John sit down.” The crew, posing as Oompah-loompahs in their white Tivek suits, get covered with tar in the process so they should be preserved for many years to come. The tar mix is a combination of 2/3rds pine tar, 1/3rd boiled linseed oil, and a dollop of gloss black paint. The result is a mixture of a yet defined depth of black, like the inside of my terminally unwashed coffee mug.I was at the schooner yesterday and, unbeknownst to Jen, just happened to have my saw with me. There is one schooner project I have wanted to get to for a while. I am committed now. Can you guess what it is from this picture taken by Jim Dugan?

Good morning everyone. And so it begins… getting ready for next season. We have so much to do and so little time before we once again reach over the rail to welcome you again. Thanks to Jim for sharing his cover pictures last week. We just beat the storm that blew through New England last Friday. I was so happy to be under cover. The crew worked incredible hard to “git ‘er done.” Thursday night we enjoyed our end of the season crew dinner and then enjoyed a long weekend. I spent Friday running around clearing trees with the fire department and looking over a carpentry job coming up in November. Saturday and Sunday spent helping Mom move. Yesterday right back to it in the office and at the boat. No chance of moss growing anywhere near my feet.While the rest of the crew have moved on Katie and Rob are putting the boat to bed. Yesterday was spent sanding mastheads aloft and spars under the cover. We like to get the mastheads painted in the autumn for maximum protection against the elements. I enjoyed seeing the moon last week against the golden light on the mastheads.

Barry and the crew put the cover on today, the white plastic shrink wrap that the Mary Day wears for the winter. All spars were brought inboard, a framework was set up, plastic hoops were strapped onto the framework. Then today, white plastic was rolled out and stretched over the hoops, then all gaps and joints were severely taped in place. Then Barry fired up his torch: an oversized hair dryer powered by a propane tank. You can see the heat in that picture to the right (click to see it larger). When he gets done with a section, it’s drum-tight, ready for most of what the winter brings.

Good morning everyone. These last two cruises have been filled with wild weather. Windy! We didn‚Äôt shake the deep reef out of the mainsail this trip and still clocked speeds in excess of 10 knots in comfort.

This lobster boat was really throwing the waves .

Mary Day seemed to be enjoying one last chance to strectch her legs and really go. We passed the 3,000 mile mark for the season. That is alot of miles and alot of fun. And alot of blueberry pancakes, and lobster, and apple/pear cream cheese dessert bars. Best of all a ton of great people to share it all with.

As you can see the schooner is rapidly being put to bed. The crew had all the sails off and topmasts down by the end of yesterday. Quite remarkable.

For those of you who managed to get down to Maine this summer… thank you for joining us. For those of you who didn‚Äôt make it… this summer to remember is gone but we will look forward to seeing you next summer.